


Space Song ✧

by metblink



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, SHEITH - Freeform, thats what this is, uh angst, yeah keith is kinda sick of not being treated right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metblink/pseuds/metblink
Summary: What had happened to him? What did they do to him? Why Shiro? Why did the Galra Empire pick that planet, with those three special crew members, at that exact moment in time?Shiro had told him that it was impossible to reason with things that have already happened and that are ultimately out of his control. In the end, it was Zarkon’s fault, and Zarkon’s burden to carry.But Keith had always wanted some of that burden too.





	Space Song ✧

**Author's Note:**

> This was a song/fic request given to me on Tumblr~

At first, Keith was falling—swiftly and suddenly,

In love.

It wasn’t going to be easy, and maybe he liked the challenge. That’s why, he assumed, that people chose that verb.

No one had ever said, _I accidentally stepped into love with you. Or, I gently floated into love with (insert name here)_.

People crash hard. They tumble, heal, and scar. And then they do it again.

And Keith was more than ready to do that with Shiro when he came back. After months of convincing themselves that it was okay to be this way with each other: to hold one another and breathe the same air, it didn’t take long until he felt himself falling again. But this time, it was backwards.

_What had happened to him? What did they do to him? Why Shiro? Why did the Galra Empire pick that planet, with those three special crew members, at that exact moment in time?_

Shiro had told him that it was impossible to reason with things that have already happened and that are ultimately out of his control. In the end, it was Zarkon’s fault, and Zarkon’s burden to carry.

But Keith had always wanted some of that burden too.

_What if I had been there? What if I had been there to save him, to stop them from ravaging his brain, his personality, his heart?_

Keith pondered on the thought while lying in his room, twisting the blade of his knife into his sheets. Shiro just wasn’t the same, and Keith’s rain-cloud wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Maybe if he was struck by lightning, he would come back to life, and finally have some clarity.

“Keith?”

The door swung open and a familiar face walked in, but Keith remained silent.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you.”

Keith sat up from his prone position and faced himself towards the wall. He could feel the cloud around him growing.

“I know I’ve been a bit distant lately,” Shiro cleared his throat, “and I’m real–”

“Sorry?” Keith interrupted.

Shiro shuddered and then stood still, hovering over Keith. Was this really happening? Now?

“Keith _please_ , just hear me out.” His words were rushed and violent, “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier today. I really–I was just on edge. I didn’t mean to take out my frustration on you.”

He walked closer and placed his hands on Keith’s shoulders, squeezing them when no response came.

Keith could feel Shiro’s pulse on his neck. It annoyed him.

“Shiro, I’ve been trying _so_ hard,” He stuttered, “s-so hard to understand and be here for you, but we just aren’t the same anymore.”

Keith placed his head in his hands in an attempt to stop the tears from emerging out of his eyes.

Shiro froze. “I know I can’t make it up to you–the pain I’ve caused you, or how much it hurts when you see my scars. But you have them too. I thought you would, I don’t know, I thought you would be able to endure it like you’ve done countless times before. But if you can’t, I understand.”

Shiro turned on his heel and before Keith could grab his hand or look into his eyes, the door was slammed shut.

Keith had never wanted them to separate, and just thinking about it caused him physical pain. But if it made Shiro happier, he would do it. He would do it and never look back.

—–

Shiro hadn’t seen Keith in 48 hours.

There hadn’t been any missions of course, no team meetings or dinners as per Allura’s instruction. She had suggested that the whole team take some personal breaks to focus on their own needs, and Shiro couldn’t have wanted anything more.

He really wished he’d stayed there in Keith’s room 2 nights ago, but the damage was done.

It had all started with the assignment they were given a week ago. The Galra were advancing on another terrestrial planet, decimating everything in their path. Same story, different verse.

Shiro and the rest of the paladins had thought they were making progress in advancing their forces into Galra territory. But they were sadly mistaken.

_“Shiro,” Keith growled through the telecom in his ear, “if you can’t stabilize the body, then I can take over this mission. What the hell is going on with you?”_

He had faltered then, something about his lion just wasn’t clicking in his brain. They were nearing a breaking point in fighting another mechanical beast, but Shiro had underestimated its power.

_“I know, I know, Keith! I’m trying everything I can but…my bayard.” Shiro hastily rammed his bayard over and over again to its slot, but his lion wasn’t accepting it. “Come on Black, please, I’m begging you.”_

Shiro remembered the look on his face reflected in the window of his lion at that moment. He was desperate, they all were.

_“Guys, if we don’t think of something quick, we’re in deep shit.” The paladins could hear Lance breathing heavily, “My blaster isn’t working, Pidge can’t get her coms up in time, he could hit us anywhere, if Voltron dissolves–”_

And then Lance went offline. The Paladins heard nothing but static.

Pidge was screaming.

_“Lance!? Lance oh my god, Shiro do you have any visuals on him in the cockpit?”_

But there was no response.

_“Shiro, are you okay?” Keith’s voice faltered, “God not him too, please for the love of god.”_

The Paladins then performed an emergency maneuver and retreated to safety. From this point on Shiro remembered very little, until he saw Keith’s face, and his arms pull him from the cockpit.

“Shiro?! Shiro?” His body was being shook back and forth, red filled his vision. “Shiro are you with me?”

He opened his eyes slowly. The air stung him and leached into his lungs with every breath he took.

_“Keith, Keith what happened?” Shiro grabbed onto the cold hand touching his face._

_“We, we were hit like Lance said, and god things couldn’t b-”_

Shiro can still recall how it felt to hear that. How his heart dropped low into the pit of his stomach.

_“Wait Keith, what about Lance? Where is he? Did you even care to check on him?!”_

_Keith’s eyes widened, “Well, your lion spun out of control when we were separated, and I rushed over to see you.”_

_“You’d better be lying to me Keith.” Shiro gripped Keith’s hand tighter, and he winced in pain._

_Keith glanced up into the sky, “I’m sure Pidge and Hunk are on their way over there now, we had to split up because we cras-”_

_Shiro sat up violently and tugged Keith’s arm to get his undivided attention. “You left them? You didn’t even care to go with them to see if Lance needed an immediate flight to the castle?”_

_“Well, I thought of you Shiro, you needed just as much help too, you can’t blame me for being worried about you.” Keith tugged his hand from Shiro’s grip._

_“You’re so selfish Keith. You know that if Lance is hurting, suffering right now, he would need you. You have the fastest lion, you could get him there quicker than any of us.”_

_Keith glared onto the ground, his face was filled with pain and confusion._

_“I don’t know what to do anymore Shiro. Every time I try to help, or try to be the leader that you want me to be, I just end up being a disappointment to you. Nothing makes you happy anymore. Not even me.”_

And then he had left. Shiro watched him walk through the rubble on that nameless planet toward his red lion. The coms were silent through their journey home.

Once they had arrived at the castle, Lance was assessed for injuries. He suffered a mild concussion, and remained in the healing pod for 8 hours that day. 8 hours that the rest of the paladins spent alone.

Recalling that memory still hurt for Shiro. And he couldn’t let those words, or their confrontation in Keith’s room be the last and most permanent memory they would have of each other.

Shiro walked the expanse of the castle, pacing back and forth past Keith’s door, trying to form thoughts into his mind. The pressure of having to talk to Keith, yet again, was building an enormous ball of anxiety in him. If he made a mistake this time, there wouldn’t be another chance for him to redeem himself.

He took a breath, and counted. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. 

He knocked twice on Keith’s door.

“Keith please, let me in.”

No answer. 2 more knocks.

“Keith, if you won’t talk to me, at least talk to someone else. Do you want me to get Hunk? Pidge?”

Shiro’s hand rested on the door lever. He glanced down at it and realized it was left slack. The door was unlocked.

“Keith I know you hate this but I’m gonna come in now alright?” Shiro swung the door open halfway. “Is that ok?”

No reply.

“I’ve been really worried about you.”

But there was no one there.

Shiro ran to the bathroom in Keith’s dorm to see if he was there, but he wasn’t. Shiro had already combed the entire castle for him before he came here. If he wasn’t here in his room, then there was no telling where he could be.

But then he saw it, a yellow folded envelope lying on Keith’s pillow. He was surprised that it wasn’t the first thing he saw when he walked in. Maybe his brain was purposely avoiding it.

He removed the rubber band off of the thin pieces of metal and pulled out a sheet of heavily scrawled on white paper. Shiro almost dropped it to the floor when he read the first two lines.

_My dearest friends,_

_It has come to my attention that I’m not needed as a teammate or as a paladin of voltron any longer. The people, or the person who I had thought was my home, no longer makes me feel safe and welcome. So, I’m leaving. My decision is final. You’ll all thank me soon enough. This is for the betterment of you, myself, and Voltron._

_-Keith Kogane_

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the song: 
> 
>  
> 
> Beach House - Space Song


End file.
